Things you could do for your Marbella Wedding over Christmas & The New Year

Christmas has a way of slowing down time. Between the twinkly magical lights, quieter mornings, and long lunches, it’s the perfect holiday to do a few thoughtful things for your wedding without feeling overwhelmed with spreadsheets, pressure and making more decisions.

It is also worth bearing in mind many of the wedding suppliers here in Marbella and the Costa Del Sol are also on their holidays too.

We know this can be frustrating for couples who are desperate to get on with their wedding planning whilst they are on a break but I hope this blog post will help you use this time to become clear, focused and maybe even creative ready for when everything returns to normal in January, after the Three Kings of course!

Yes Spain loves its holidays and fiestas, this is why we all love Spain!

We have put together a few calm, creative ideas you can do over the Christmas and New Year holiday that feel more like crafting & dreaming than planning.

This post will also help you to become more intentional and focused as we move into the New Year and stop that 'have I done enough' panic! Many families will get together and they will be asking you how the 'wedding planning' is going which is another stress so I am really hoping this post will help.

Create a Wedding Mood Board

If you haven’t created a wedding mood board yet now is the perfect time to sit quietly and really focus on your wedding details, colours and vibes you wish to achieve.

If you already have a mood board revisit it. Take off some of the ideas that were just 'that will do for now' to get started and look at it with fresh eyes.

Instead of Pinterest and Instagram rabbit holes, try this.

Plan a wedding PJ morning and light a favourite candle. If you want to inject a bit of Spain into your home this winter we adore these candles and scents created at Finca Gran Cerros, a charming retreat in the Andalucian mountains near Alora.

With so many gorgeous fragrances to choose from you can transport yourself back into Andalucia this winter and even order some for your wedding here, filling the evening air with beautiful scents.

Next make a cafe con leche or even better pour a Spanish cava😉

Choose a mood for your wedding that isn’t governed by your social media feeds, more authentic to you as a couple and works with your chosen venue. This could be a Mediterranean garden, olive grove, old money coastal, Andalucian romance.

Save about 10 to 15 images only and stop when it feels right otherwise you will start to become overwhelmed. Once you are happy this will become your visual anchor for everything else.

Think about Natural Textures and get Inspired by Nature whilst on Walks

Much of Spain is covered in olive trees and despite Italy being the first olive oil producing country that springs to mind, Spain actually is the biggest provider of olive oil in the world!

Thinking outside the proverbial olive branches, oranges and lemons you could incorporate a nod to these elements into your wedding.

Fruit sculptures are still big for 2026 along with dramatic drapes so whilst maybe not overly practical for tables they could be used for some fabulous standalone displays such as your table seating plan, cocktail bar or cake table.

Don't forget the cake table, it is often a last minute ‘we forgot about this’. Remember extra furniture needs to be ordered from your caterer.

1st image Pinterest, we can't find the owner so if you know who it is let us know.

2nd & 3rd images found on Going Steady Studios. Photography by Albany Katz

Orange and olive is huge again this year and we will see more of the deep claret red trending this Christmas, not sure why the wishy washy Pantone cloud dancer was the winner, it is a lovely ethereal colour for weddings but hardly new. Just my personal opinion!

We love the olive & orange colour scheme here created by Woven and Revel.

Once you have your Wedding Mood Board and decided on your theme and colours it is time to do some fun craft research.

You could explore watercolour menus, place cards, linens and tableware, all the details to really add some of your style to your wedding.

You could get crafting and really get ahead with your wedding details. This Christmas I made dried orange slices for a Spanish inspired tree but they also make lovely place cards for your Mediterranean tables. I just sliced some oranges and popped them onto a baking sheet, in the oven at 140 for about 4 hours. Once dried you can store them and use them for your wedding decor.

I even made clay air dry olives for a bit of fun and did think they would be cute as place card holders!

There are some fun ones on Etsy and middle photo is my attempt!

Think About Your on the Day Wedding Stationery & Displaying it

‘On the day’ stationery is literally what stationery you need for your wedding day and we will start with your ceremony.

Depending on your style of wedding you may need an Order of Service Booklet if you are having a church wedding. Now would be the perfect time to get this organised and ticked off your list.

You need to choose readings, hymns and personalise your Order of Service. Often it is lovely to chat to family members to see if they have favourite readings and hymns to see if you would like to include these in yours.

We designed an Order of Service booklet especially for the Encarnacion Church in Marbella. Featuring an illustration of the church and a downloadable A5 booklet which comes with a comprehensive list of suggested readings and music. The music list was especially compiled by one of our singers for you, Amanda Rosa.

The booklet is in English, it is standard so will apply to any church in Spain if you have booked an English speaking priest.

Everything is editable in the free version of Canva. If you would love to get this ticked off your wedding to do list you can purchase yours here.

If you are having a Symbolic ceremony take time this holiday to plan your ceremony. Many of our celebrants will help you. They will get to know you and plan a script for you to check through and change if needed. We have some lovely celebrants on our Directory and are always adding more.

You may also need a Welcome to our Wedding sign, not compulsory but a lovely touch! Do check how you will display it and if any of your decor suppliers have easels or creative ways to set the tone for your wedding.

You will need table numbers/names and also place cards. Many couples don’t want place cards but here is why you might need them. If you are having a pre chosen meal, for example meat, fish or vegetarian.

Your caterer will need to know who is who in order to manage this element of your wedding. I do remember one couple giving me coloured stones and asking us to put a different colour on each place setting to mark who was having meat, fish, etc yet they hadn’t assigned seats and weren’t having place cards so that was an impossible task!

Wedding tip, most weddings in Marbella are outside, there maybe a light breeze so anything you create for the tables needs to be anchored down. Place cards that tie or can be inserted under napkins, table names in sturdy stands, etc.

Other fun stationery you may consider, a cocktail menu, menus for your place settings or just a few menus for each table. By creating some lovely ‘on the day’ stationery is a perfect way to add details and personalise your day.

Plan Your Wedding Day Music

We aren’t just talking about an evening playlist, you need to think about the whole day.

Your ceremony music, entrance song/s, maybe a piece during your ceremony and an exit the ceremony song.

Background music for your cocktail hour and dinner. Maybe you would like a guitarist, a string quartet or a jazz hour.

Other times you will need certain chosen pieces of music.

Entrance into the dinner, first dance, cutting of the cake & maybe you are planning something else possibly as a surprise!

No pressure to finalise just collect songs that make you feel or mean something to you both.

If you can do these small things over the holidays you will avoid having to make more decisions as you lead up to your wedding day and feel much more in control.

We always highly recommend a wedding planner but if you are going it alone it is hugely important to be super organised and be able to hand over a wedding document to your suppliers they can use as a master copy. It should include a wedding timings, not a loose one scribbled onto a piece of paper but a very detailed one. A list of suppliers and contact details. Your table seating plan with menu choices if you are having them.

Our complete wedding planner is a detailed document created using excel with all the above plus a wedding timeline checklist. If getting organised is on your holiday list you can email us to enquire and become the dream wedding client!

Do a Calm Wedding Browse!

Instead of emailing suppliers, simply browse and make a list of emails you wish to send in January (after the 3 Kings!) Try to include all the questions and points you wish to ask instead of what we call 'ping pong' emails. Just one clear email with all your questions, changes, etc on is perfect.

Your wedding doesn’t need constant attention, it needs you to be very clear, ahead of the game and organised. It also should be fun so if you do just two or three of these things over Christmas, you’ll enter the new year with clarity, confidence and a wedding vision that actually feels like you.

I hope you enjoyed this post and it helps you to focus on the fun wedding things again just for a little while!